Tuesday, March 29, 2011

It wasn’t really a call I wanted to make, but after the captain more or less firing me via voice mail, I knew who I needed to call. I punch in the number and I wait as the phone rings.

“Las Vegas Sheriff’s Department, this is Allison speaking. How can I help you?” Yeah, I called my ex-girlfriend. She works at the sheriff’s department, doing paperwork, handling calls, stuff like that. She also broke up with me after I got shot.

“Alli? It’s Nate.”

“OHMYGOD ARE YOU OK I’VE BEEN WORRIED-“

“Alli, ALLI, I’m fine. Other than a little dehydration, I’m in perfect shape.”

“What’s going on, Nate? You’ve been gone for over a month.”

“I’ve been helping some people out on a missing person’s case. Listen, don’t tell anyone I’ve called, but how are things down at the station?”

“Well, the captain’s furious. He seems to think you’ve gone after Donald Jackson. Is that what happened? Did you go after him because he killed that girl?”

“What? No, I didn’t…look, I can’t really say.”

“Why not? If you haven’t done anything wrong, why can’t you tell me?”

“I just can’t.”

“Nathan Pritchert, DO NOT do this to me again! I had a hard enough time after you got shot, and I thought I just needed to give you some time, but it’s been two years!”

“I’m sorry, I want to tell you. It’s complicated.”

“Then uncomplicate it and just tell me.”

“I want to tell you, I really do. I don’t want to put you into danger.”

“I am a big girl, Nate. I can handle myself.”

An awkward silence hung over us for what seemed like an eternity. She broke it. “I called your mom, Nate. She’s worried sick about you.”

“Yeah, I know. I got a few messages from the parents too. I called them when I got back.”

“She didn’t know what was going on but I got the feeling she wasn’t telling me everything either. We talked for like an hour or so.”

Oh god, Mom’s going to ask if Alli and I are getting back together. And then she’ll bring up grandkids.

“So…how’s Walter?”

“Walter’s fine. He doesn’t really do much but lay around the house. He’s sleeps on the bed with me now.”

Huh, maybe Walter misses me. “Have you been taking him on walks? Toss the old ball around?”

“I take him out when I can. He doesn’t really have a big yard to run around in anymore. Listen, I’ve got to go. We’ll talk later, yeah?”

“Yeah, I’ll come up and see you when I get to the station. I’ve got to clean out my desk after I turn in my badge and my gun.”

“Nate, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Another silence. “Allison, before I go… you said you were worried about me?”

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Nathan sat down on the couch, fidgeted a bit, and asked his mother, “Mom, is Dad home?”

“No, he’s working a late shift today. Why?”

An awkward silence pervaded as Nathan tried to find the words. “….what do you know about my father?”

“You’ve known Shane most of your life. Why are you-“

“Not Shane, Mom. My birth father.”

“Oh… Well, your father was a Japanese businessman, and he was in town for a week or two for some conference. So he called someone I knew, and this person arranged for me to spend time with him…”

Nathan’s eyes went wide with horror. “Wait…what…I…WHAT.”

Laughing, she says “You are so easy to tease, Nathan.”

“Mom, I’m serious. I…he visited while I was in the hospital.”

His mom’s eyes went wide in surprise. “Whoa…wait…huh..WHAT.”

Oh, I get that from her, Nate thought. “No, I’m serious, mom.”

“Oh…” his mother shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Well, if you really want to know, I met him at a convention here in Vegas. There was a symposium on education across the world. His name was..well, if you met him, is Robert Mifune. He was a speaker there, and he spoke about connecting schools across the globe, bringing like-minded people together and creating a strong network. It was electrifying. I approached him after the seminar, and we talked for what seemed like hours. He had the most interesting ideas. I spent time with him over the next couple of days, tossing ideas back and forth, learning more about him, this and that. The last night, we had a few drinks, and then this led to that, and, well, here you are!”

“Was there anything else?”

“I think that’s it. I mean, he said some weird things, but I think that was the alcohol talking.”